If you have even stepped outside once in the past few years, you may have started noticing a trend occurring. There has been a shift in the technology that we use today. Apple has taken over just about everything in the consumer technology department. Samsung is still doing its best to compete with Apple. Microsoft is still struggling to get back into the game and convince people that regular PCs and Windows are cool. There are a lot of tablets now as well. Just recently, however, and by recently I mean within the past few years, there has been another change in the technology, mainly in the tablet and laptop department.

Some people thoroughly enjoy using their tablets for everything. Others only use it for surfing the web and games because they can’t stand not having a keyboard. Thus, the change occurred. The tablet-laptop hybrid was made. Does that mean that it’s taking over now though?

Microsoft

Microsoft has been looking like a dying breed for a while now. They’re far from out of the game, but they aren’t at the level that they used to be either. They, just like Samsung, have to compete with Apple and their iPad. Microsoft does have something that Apple doesn’t have. Apple has the MacBook. Apple also has the iPad. Microsoft’s answer to this? The Surface Pro 3. The latest rendition of the Surface Pro was hyped up so much by Microsoft that the ad even claimed that it was the “tablet that could replace your laptop”. In reality, it easily could. Reason being is that it was able to be a laptop when you needed it (after the purchase of the keyboard attachment of course) and a tablet when you needed it. You didn’t need to buy two separate devices. With the Surface Pro 3, you have them both.

Dell

Here’s a name you might not have thought about in a while. Dell is still in the game, and at this year’s IFA conference in Berlin, they made sure that everyone was aware of that fact. Dell is following suit with the laptop-tablet hybrid game, much like everyone else in the mobile technology industry right now. They released their new Latitude 13 7000, which they are claiming to be a “2 in 1” device. Dell hasn’t really been making too much noise, as they’ve been drowned out by the likes of Microsoft, Samsung, and Apple. That being said, this new device aims to jump in the battle with the other hybrids out there. It was announced at the event but won’t be available to the public until October. Just be ready to spend around $1,200 if you want to try out their version.

What Does It Mean?

This change in the direction of technology could mean a lot of things. It could mean that this is what we can expect all of the tech giants to do now. It could mean that soon the laptop and hybrid will no longer exist as two separate entities but only as hybrids. Apple is making an announcement on the 9th of this month and for all we know it could be about their own version of a iPad and MacBook hybrid. Although that is highly unlikely, the possibility is still there as the IFA conference showed that this seems to be a big trend among the mobile market now. It could end up saving consumers and developers a lot of money in long run, but we won’t know until something like that actually happens.

I for one don’t own a tablet, but I do enjoy using them. I also enjoy just using my laptop. Should this become the new tech trend and take over officially, it might take some getting used to, but I feel that ultimately it wouldn’t be a bad financial call on either end.